Some automotive components are made from engineered thermoplastic materials and blends. Those applications require certain physical characteristics, such as (i) Coefficients of Linear Thermal Expansion (CLTE) that approximate the CLTE of metal parts, (ii) low shrinkage, and (iii) very high stiffness. Aluminum has a CLTE value of 2.5×10−5 mm/mm/° K while steel has a CLTE value of 1.1×10−5 mm/mm/° K.
Such automotive components include body panels, lift gates, structural parts, and other automotive parts. Examples of engineered thermoplastic materials and blends include polyamide (PA), polyamide/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (PA/ABS), polycarbonate (PC), PC/ABS, polycarbonate/acylonitrile styrene acrylate (PC/ASA), and polycarbonate/polybutylene terephthalate (PC/PBT).